All About Me

Saturday, January 31, 2009

If Only I Could Fit All Of This Information On A Bumper Sticker...

These are most of the questions we asked when shopping for our truck and the ones most people ask when they see someone driving something like it:

1. What kind of truck is that and how big is your sleeper?
Our truck is a Freightliner Coronado and it has a 132” sleeper on it. In the trucking industry, sleeper sizes are measured in inches. So for those who are math challenged - 132” translates into 11 feet of sleeper space. Our old truck had a 48” sleeper! You can say we sort of feel like we’ve purchased a “McMansion”.

2. What kind of engine do you have in that thing?This truck has a Detroit Diesel Series 60 engine – a DDEC V – which we just call a “D-Deck 5”. The engine has 515 horsepower, is the biggest one in its class, and is specifically made to haul heavy loads and take hills without any problems. It’s a pretty powerful engine!!

3. How many gears/speeds does it have?
This truck has 13 speeds – our old truck had 10. It has a different shifting pattern with a low and high range in every gear over fourth gear. I thought it was going to be difficult to master, but it’s ten times easier than the other truck and I’m already a pro! OK, so I’m semi-pro.

4. What kind of fuel mileage do you get and do you use more fuel since it’s heavier?We’re getting around 6 miles to the gallon and no, we don’t use more fuel. Our weight in this truck with the trailer is the same as our old one.

5. What’s inside the sleeper?
In the sleeper, we have the following comforts of home: Toilet/Shower combination, Refrigerator/Freezer, Convection Microwave, Extra-deep sink, medicine cabinet, 32” flat panel TV, DVD player, surround sound, bed/dinette table, faux wood floors, a Fantastic Fan, roof A/C, two hanging clothes closets (one of which Ed made into a pantry by adding shelves – awesome!), tinted windows, a back door that has a screen door included for those balmy summer nights, and a “porch light” over the back door with a grab handle that lights up at night.

These photos were taken from the ARI Legacy Sleepers brochure (the people who made our sleeper!) but it’s exactly what our truck looks like inside except that our walls are a taupe color instead of the lighter color in this photo.

6. How much water do your tanks hold for showers, etc.?
We have a 40 gallon water tank to use for showers and the kitchen sink. We have a 7 gallon tank to flush the toilet. Once we use up both of those water supplies, we have to go to a truck stop or RV park to fill up with more fresh water and to dump the wastewater tank. In addition, we carry two 5-gallon jugs of bottled water which connect to a spigot on our sink so we always have fresh drinking water.

7. How do all of those electronics and appliances get power?
We have a 7,500 watt Onan generator. It runs everything in the truck. The only thing I was worried about was the air conditioning, but so far, so good. We’ll have to see how it works when it really gets hot out though.

8. Can I see inside?
We had this question asked on the first day we moved our stuff in – I guess we’ll have to get used to it - but I don’t mind, so c’mon in!

9. How heavy is your truck?
The tractor alone, with ¼ tank of fuel weighs 24,580 lbs. The tractor and trailer, with ¼ tank fuel weighs 35,400 lbs. Our old truck and trailer weighed 33,500 lbs. – so even though our truck is now much larger, we didn’t put on too much weight.

10. How much can you scale?
Legally, we can still only go up to 80,000 GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight) total without permits. The heaviest load we can haul right now is 45,000 lbs. which leaves our options pretty open. Most of the loads we haul are much less than that weight anyway, so it shouldn't prevent us from taking the loads we really want.

12. How long is your truck?
Our total length now is 75’ long. Before buying this sleeper, we were only 65’ long.

13. Can you still go everywhere you used to go?So far, no problems. We’ve asked other drivers we’ve seen with these big sleepers if they’ve had any trouble getting in and out of places and they’ve all said “None at all”. We’ve been told it takes a little getting used to and although this truck is bigger, it has a tighter turning radius than our other truck, which will helps with getting in and out of places.

14. How long is your wheelbase?
This truck has a 316” wheelbase. Our old truck had 218” wheelbase.

15. What about going to Canada?
Due to Canadian wheelbase restrictions, we can no longer go to Canada. This is probably the only thing that upsets me about the new truck. But, since we spend 95% of our time in the states, we couldn't allow that to affect our decision. What this means now, is that we’ll just have to vacation in Canada!!

16. How much did it cost?The price of this truck was $225,000.00 but we got a few rebates that brought the final sale price down around $200,000.00. Add the price of the trailer to that and you come up with a grand total of $260,000.00.

17. Are you saving money having this truck over your old truck?Absolutely! Last year, we spent over $35,000 between dining out and hotels. We will be drastically cutting that figure since I can feed us for a few dollars a day. This brochure will give you an idea of what kind of savings one can expect with a big sleeper truck.

18. What do you like most about your sleeper?
Having a toilet is the biggest convenience – now we don’t have to stop every time I have to pee (which, by the way, is crazy a lot). But the shower, being able to brush my teeth without having to trek inside, cooking a real meal, being able to catch my favorite show, watching a movie, having a snack or cold drink from the fridge….I like it all!

19. Would you ever consider going back to a smaller sleeper?
Never!! And Ed will have to find a new girlfriend if he even thinks about it!

20. And last, but not least, one guy asked Ed "How many women can you fit in that thing?"
Ed looked at him like he was crazy, the thought in his head being, Why the hell would anyone want to cart around more than one woman at a time?? One is more than enough.

14 comments:

I am so loving all your posts about the new truck. I'm seriously living vicariously through you.

I'm amazed that the new truck is as light as it is. I always figured those babies would be crazy heavy, and would get poor fuel mileage as a result. Great to hear that's not the case.

Really, a lot of the things about those big sleeper trucks which I had thought were true, have been debunked by you (no pun intended, honest to god).

Best of all, you told how much it cost! I have so wanted to ask. I don't know why, but where I come from, you don't ask people what their stuff cost. Still, it was killing me. Hedon and I even discussed how we might go about asking you without offending. LOL. Finally, Hedon said, "It's just Selena, so I'm just gonna ask." She simply hadn't gotten around to it yet.

I'm pleasantly surprised by the price. We figured it would be in the $240,000 to $250,000 range. Of course, you got that amazing discount, too.

I want one! My husband and I have thrown around the idea of becoming owner-ops, but still sticking with Company. I could be a lifetime trucker with one of those. And to be able to cook dinner... sweet.

Ya'll sure are living my dream. I been a Diabetic 35 years of my 42 years on this earth and I spent last July traveling with a good friend of mine in his company truck because I can't drive.And the thing I always said was I bet it would be awesome to ride the country in a "Big Sleeper"truck.LUCKY YOU !!! ENJOY!!!! Jon

Wow, interesting info about the new truck - thanks for sharing. I thought your description of the sleeper was particularly cool - I'll no longer have to wonder what's in one when I see them on the highway!

Cameron: I think the answer to your question is in #16. The sleeper was included with the truck when we bought it. But, if you have a sleeper with a stretched frame, you can just buy a sleeper unit for it...and those prices are determined by the size and amentities you get in it.

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